Times Square on New Year's Eve

[Altimexis]

Just curious if any of my fellow writers has actually frozen their noses off or any other assorted body appendages and spent New Year's Eve in Times Square, counting down the final seconds of the year as the ball dropped. If not, do you know anyone that has? Now that I actually live in the Big Apple, I have even less of a desire to do so, as I can sit out on my terrace and watch the fireworks on the East River, over the Brooklyn Bridge, with the Statue of Liberty as a backdrop. Why would I want to submit myself to all the pushing and shoving, freezing temperatures, waiting around for hours, not to mention having to catch a crowded subway afterwards, or just plain walk the 3.8 miles back?

However, I'm writing a story, one of my Naptown Tales, in which a group of ten of my characters along with a couple of their parents will be in New York for their Winter Holiday at the end of this year. Naturally, the boys are all excited at the prospect of being in Times Square at the stroke of midnight, no matter how much the parents may try to dissuade them. Having never experienced the joy of watching the ball drop live with a million of my closest friends, if anyone here has been through the experience, could you please tell me some details that would make the experience more realistic? How early do you need to get there to get a decent spot? Are there food vendors on the street? Are the restaurants open the whole time? For restrooms, are there Porta-potties, and do they work throughout the night? Are pickpockets a problem? Are there a lot of police officers about? Are some of them on horseback? On bicycle? It's little details like these that will make the story more accurate, and real.

Thanks,

Altimexis

[Tanuki Racoon]

I have a friend who's been. Pickpockets are a huge problem. Some places are open and others close. In the actual Times Square most places close for their own safety. But the actual event goes on for blocks. There are porta-potties on many of the side streets but nowhere near enough.

That's all I recollect from his tales.

(Much of the actual square is barricaded off with metal poiice barricades.)

[Altimexis]

I have a friend who's been. Pickpockets are a huge problem. Some places are open and others close. In the actual Times Square most places close for their own safety. But the actual event goes on for blocks. There are porta-potties on many of the side streets but nowhere near enough.

That's all I recollect from his tales.

(Much of the actual square is barricaded off with metal poiice barricades.)

It sounds a lot like the Halloween Parade, but probably on a much larger scale. The Halloween Parade takes place in the Village, just two miles from our apartment. We got to within two blocks of the route, but the police had it barricaded off and absolutely wouldn't let us through except to access the subway station. In other words, you could get there by subway, but not on foot. I'll have to write that into my story. In any case, my wife and I took advantage of that little loophole - we swiped ourselves through, crossed the platform and walked out the other side. It's too bad we didn't have unlimited passes - it cost us $2 each, but it was well worth it. The parade was amazing - something everyone should attend once in their lives. There supposedly are one million participants in the parade. I'm not talking about spectators - I'm talking about people marching in the parade itself.

Thanks, oh vaulted raccoon. You've given me a lot to go on.